After 3 days and 12 miles on the treadmill I'm ready for some tennis this a.m.!

I still can't believe how great my joints feel after the pounding they've taken the past few months! I'm not sure if it's the glucosamine/chondriton I started taking the end of July or what, but it sure feels good to be pain free in the skeletal part of my body! wooohooo

We must be on the same exercise regime as I have put in 8 miles in the past 2 nights.

To be honest, approx. 1/2 my time is spent walking an incline at 3.5-4 mph and the other 1/2 doing interval training jogging 6mph for a minute and then back to the incline walk. At this point, my heart rate still avgs. 120-125 bpm because of my weight. I also carry 2 5lb dumbells during most of the walk and do curls and front & lateral raises. Good stuff for now, but I hope to build up to where I can jog 10 min miles for 45 min. and also do the interval training for 1/2 hour or so.I have started to notice a slight increase in mobility on the court, tho' no increase in stamina yet. Am also disappointed I haven't lost more weight (10 lbs in 3 weeks) for the amount of increase in activity the past month. But that's probably due to the fact that I eat and drink twice as much as OSB!

I doubt that! I can throw down!

Well, the last eating competition I entered I ate 27 cheeseburgers in 30 minutes and finished in last place! Guess what happened next?

If I indeed make it out to Cinncy next year, we'll see what we see OSB!

3.5 hours of light hitting with the 3.5-4.0 crew. Singles, dubs, and cutthroat.More social than competitive. Tough singles set for tomorrow a.m. Should be a good gauge of how much I've improved (if any ) fitness wise over the past month or so.

Got thumped in singles this a.m. 6-3. We then rotated opponents and I made out only slightly better 6-4 against a weak 4.0 player. Then a couple of sets of dubs to finish the morning. We won 6-4, 6-4, but overall a very low energy day for the big guy. The whole recognition and reaction phase of the game was the worst it's been since I've been back playing. Very disappointing. I was hoping the extra cardio work I've been doing the past few weeks would hold me in good stead against my very steady 4.0 opponent. Today was not my day. Overall energy level was very low despite 9.5 hours of good sleep.Oh well, tomorrow is another day and am hoping to hit for the third day in a row! wooooohoooo! A bad day of tennis is better than a good day of ...... just about anything else!

Had a good outing yesterday morning.2 hours of drills and practice points.Still feeling like I'm at low tide in the energy cycle, and this translates into slower reaction times on the court. This is not good for someone as immobile as myself.Unable to find any consistency or control on my serve even at 75% pace. I'm very unhappy about that as my performance tends to follow my serving abilities.I had it for a few brief but glorious weeks and am sure with some more practice I will be able to recapture and lock in that motion.Social dubs tonight and then some super hot dubs coming up on Thursday. I will be the low man on the totem pole as far as skill level and am glad these fellers invite me to join in! Should have some stories to tell after that one!

Had a good outing yesterday morning.2 hours of drills and practice points.Still feeling like I'm at low tide in the energy cycle, and this translates into slower reaction times on the court. This is not good for someone as immobile as myself.Unable to find any consistency or control on my serve even at 75% pace. I'm very unhappy about that as my performance tends to follow my serving abilities.I had it for a few brief but glorious weeks and am sure with some more practice I will be able to recapture and lock in that motion.Social dubs tonight and then some super hot dubs coming up on Thursday. I will be the low man on the totem pole as far as skill level and am glad these fellers invite me to join in! Should have some stories to tell after that one!

You treadmill for a really long time. At least my opinion. I guess better slow and steady for increasing stamina? I don't go for more than 20 minutes, usually I stop at the 2 mile mark.

Slow and steady is all I got right now!

I usually mix in incline and slow jogs for interval training during each session.This raises my heart rate to 140-150 for a couple of minutes and I don't let it fall below 110 bpm after my initial warmup. I also use 2 5lb dumbells to do bicep and shoulder work while walking. This variety helps to stave off the boredom of being on the treadmill, a little Jethro Tull (Locomotive Breath ) helps also!

Getting pumped for some hot dubs tonight. After the "social" dubs this past Tues eve, I'm ready to get my clock cleaned by some quality players. The good news is this group has expanded from 4 regular players and a few subs into eight regulars plus subs!!! I should get a proper whippin' tonight and have some tales to tell.

Unfortunately the expansion team for Thurs eve was some of the better players from the Tues group. This was ok but not the butt whupin I was hoping for. When I finally got to hit with the "A Team" later in the evening it went well. Certainly much more pace than I am used to which in turn means my footwork/fitness needs to improve if I'm going to move up to that level. My serve continues to falter despite several practice sessions. Everytime I try to up the pace my control and consistency drop dramatically. Once again, I think I am trying to hard.....

Got a light hit in this morning, still working on the serve. During dubs I was able to place the ball well which paid big dividends in the deuce court. My slice was brutal which created some fat balls for my partner! I was able to hit the kicker consistently in the ad court with similar results. No aces or service winners, just solid doubles serving.

It is good to hear you mention moving up a level. That is the goal and it is a fun challenge isn't it........it is what makes this game so fun...........there is always room for improvement even if you are Fed.

It is good to hear you mention moving up a level. That is the goal and it is a fun challenge isn't it........it is what makes this game so fun...........there is always room for improvement even if you are well fed.

Yes, I am well fed! Just finished a birthday dinner for my dad which showcased different squash. Butternut and acorn were my favorites. Also had baked beans and ham and some pumpkin cake squares with cream cheese frosting. A little peanut butter fudge and apple pie. The highlight was lovey's artichoke, spinach, parmesean cheese dip with assorted crackers. No wonder I'm a fat b-tard!Should be a fun trip to the "office" tomorrow morning. Perhaps I'll add a rack of Newcastle to that, just to keep it fresh!

A good 1.5 hours of hitting with my practice partner Dan (steady Eddie). He's a solid 4.0 doubles player who's went to the USTA nationals in '04. That old fart can track down a ball like nobody I've ever seen. Of course I haven't seen T4U on the court yet. We did 2 of my favorite drills, Alley Rally and Serve 'Till You Drop. Both seemed to help my doubles play later in the morning. The rally drill forces me to work harder on my footwork in order for my body to be in position to hit an accurate shot. Being the lazy, fat b-tard that I am, I usually rely on my hands to make the final adjustments for accuracy. The serve drill allowed me to experiment with a lower toss which forced me to speed up my swing. Voila! Pace with control. Solid serving in the dubs, only got broke once in 4 sets and I'm gonna place a bit of the blame on my partner for not putting away 2 very short lob returns that game. Ouch.Looking forward to hitting with Dan and his son Ryan on Tues eve. I may even get some singles in with the kid if I'm lucky.

You need to learn to play with people who see the kicker often and are use to it, those are the better players. You will learn much by playing with them. I love playing against better players, always a good experience!!!

You need to learn to play with people who see the kicker often and are use to it, those are the better players. You will learn much by playing with them. I love playing against better players, always a good experience!!!

Spot on there! That's why I'm excited to be playing with the Thurs. group here. I watched 2 of those dudes hit singles last week and they were consistently hitting 50-100 ball rallies with pace and various spins. Just plain sick! It made me think of watching Courier and Martin warming up on a side court before the Newport tourney this past summer. 50-100 ball rallies were a regular thing and kinda "matter of fact" for them.

You need to learn to play with people who see the kicker often and are use to it, those are the better players. You will learn much by playing with them. I love playing against better players, always a good experience!!!

Spot on there! That's why I'm excited to be playing with the Thurs. group here. I watched 2 of those dudes hit singles last week and they were consistently hitting 50-100 ball rallies with pace and various spins. Just plain sick! It made me think of watching Courier and Martin warming up on a side court before the Newport tourney this past summer. 50-100 ball rallies were a regular thing and kinda "matter of fact" for them.

Definitely spot on there! I have really tried to work on that consistency with pace and control............for me I feel it is mostly watching the ball well so there are low number of mis**ts. Some of the better 4.5 players we compete against can hit almost forever without missing.